A New Sky
by Shamise
Summary: Being swept out to sea on a voyage and assimilated into a mythical culture was not on Atem's 'To Do' list, but one naga named Yugi is willing to try and change that. AU Complete. Dedicated to the BPSC forum.


Title: A New Sky

Author: Shamise

Status: Completed

Warnings: Just a little bit of fluff.

Pairing: Puzzleshipping (it's just a little fluffy)

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-gi-oh! But I do own this plot.

Summary: Being swept out to sea on a voyage and assimilated into a foreign culture of myth was not on Atem's list of 'Things to Do,' but one naga named Yuugi just might be able to change his mind about his luck.

~(*)~

Sputtering, Atem dragged his waterlogged body out of the water, fighting the shifting sand and waves that tried to pull him back in. He managed, finally, to escape the watery pull. He took great gulps of air and forced his legs to cooperate for another five meters before he allowed them to collapse beneath his measly weight of one hundred twenty-eight pounds. He rested a shaky forearm against his face, shielding his sensitive red eyes from the late afternoon sun.

Dear god, he hoped this wouldn't become a regular occurrence. He was the son of a seaman and even _he_ was tired of the crystal blue body of water.

A shadow fell across Atem's face, causing him to open his eyes and blink at the person leaning above him. A teen, roughly around fifteen to seventeen years of age, held himself above Atem. His hair was damp, but drying, and parts of it had begun to sneak back into their natural places. Atem's own hair was dry now, simply because he had gotten out of the water sooner than he did. Purple eyes shone in the late afternoon light, catching the movement of the nearby waves in their irises.

"Hello, _Aibou_." The teen greeted, a smile upon his lips. "Tired already?"

Atem frowned (dear god, it was _not_ a _pout!_), closing his eyes for a brief moment before leveling Yugi with 'the look.' "Well, if you hadn't dragged me out to the beach today, then proceeded to _keep_ dragging me out where I couldn't touch, maybe I _wouldn't_ be so tired. I _told_ you that my legs weren't that long."

Yugi laughed, rolling over onto his side so that his and Atem's heads were closer to the same level. "Silly, _Aibou_, you should have told me you needed help."

"I _would_ have," Atem mirrored Yugi by turning on his side, "but _you_," he accented the work with a poke, "wouldn't quite _splashing_ me and _dunking_ me long enough to get a word in edge-wise."

Yugi conceded the point with a tilt of his head, and rolled on to his back, the smile still on his face. They spent some time in companionable silence, tracing the evening clouds with content eyes and sneaking shy glances at the other when they weren't looking.

"Does the sky look the same from your side of the ocean?" The question was unexpected, and it took Atem a few moments to register it. A frown tugged at his mouth, when he thought about it. He hadn't always lived in this place with Yugi. A few months ago, he had been living rather comfortably as the son of a naval commander. However, on one of the few voyages that he could actually go on with his father, a horrendous sea storm has washed him overboard. He had woken up with Yugi pulling him out onto the beach. As far as he knew, there were two other survivors from the storm: Bernard, one of the chefs, and Marik, one of the crew. He saw both of them on occasion, and their presence was the only reason he still believed that he was mentally sane.

"It's a little grayer." He decided. The sky was afire with the slowly descending sun, even though they should have a good four to five hours left of strong daylight, and the color highlighted the clouds and set the water aflame. It was…different than what the sun did back home, but the environment was completely different here. "And there aren't as many stars at night." Unless you were out at sea, then the whole sky was covered in the little white diamonds.

Nostalgia and homesickness pecked at his heart, and he tried to turn his thoughts away from it. Home was very different from here, but it wasn't like reality had given him any time to adjust. Even though Yugi had found him, it hadn't been until at least two weeks after the rescue that he had been taken into the teen's home. In those two weeks, he was forced to do all sorts of menial and manual labor. The caste system here was…very complicated. Even after three months, he still had no true idea as to how it worked. From the way Yugi explained it, he had had the status of 'slave' until Yugi staked his claim on him.

However, once Yugi had done that, his entire role in this culture changed.

They didn't have racism here, or at least not in the same way as back home. It was such a weird concept that he couldn't even wrap his mind around it. They didn't discriminate against visual appearances or personal interests, and they highly valued one's heritage. The more diverse the better. Differences here were a good thing, he supposed, something about good 'gene pools.'

And speaking of genetics….

Sighing, Atem pushing his upper body off of the ground. Yugi curiously watching his accent, making no move to follow him. It was all so strange, Atem thought at he let his eyes wander towards Yugi's lower half. Light bounced off of the shiny, iridescent scales, casting several shades of gold and maroon onto the white sand. It shouldn't even be scientifically possible, but there was the proof before him.

"You can touch it, you know." Yugi snickered, finally propping himself up to match Atem. Sunset red scales glinted with the movement as a thick coil pressed against Atem's hand. He jumped, scowling when Yugi laughed at him for his jumpiness.

"You're gonna give me a heart attack some day." Atem grumbled.

Yugi shook his head. "You humans are always so afraid of touch. Even the most gentle of touches makes you run away like I was going to eat you…." Yugi's voice got quiet, sad almost. Atem hesitated, guilt replacing the homesickness. He reached out and laid twitching fingers on Yugi's arm.

"I-we're just not used to it." Atem adverted his eyes, looking everywhere but at the creature sitting before him. "We…aren't used to touch, and it makes us…nervous." He stammered, cursing the fact that he was blushing. Yugi seemed confused, so maybe he could actually evade this conversation while he still had some dignity left. "S-so, just giv-"

His stammering cut to an abrupt halt when he felt Yugi's hand close around his. He looked up, only to get caught in Yugi's understanding purple eyes.

"It's alright," he whispered gently, a soothing smile on his lips. "I can wait."

The moment stretched on as Atem's brain pulled up a blank. Yugi continued to watch him for a moment, before leaning forward gently. _What was…?_ Atem's eyes slowly drew down to Yuugi's lips as something strange but oh so familiar stirred within him. _Was this..? Was he really going to…?_

Yugi stopped mere inches from Atem's face, his purple eyes darting back and forth between Atem's eyes and his mouth. After a few seconds, the silent message became clear to the blushing Atem. Yugi was giving him the choice. _Yugi_ was giving _him_ the _choice!_ What should he do? Should he take it? Should he turn him down?

"_I can wait._" Yugi had said. The underlying meaning was crystal clear to Atem, but…did _he_ want to wait? Did Atem like Yugi enough to give him a chance?

"I-I…" Atem stuttered, his heart skipping a beat as he saw disappointment flash through Yugi's eyes. The naga began to pull away, a sigh already forming on his lips.

"It's okay, Atem." Yugi murmured, his voice soft and dejected. "I underst-"

Atem didn't know if it was Yugi's disheartened expression, the way his heart beat away his rational, or some cosmic entity that decided that is was 'Screw with Atem Day" that made him decide right then and there that he _liked_ Yugi.

The last half of the word 'understand' was muffled as Atem leaned forward and pressed his lips against Yugi's. The naga went still in surprise and several moments passed before he seemed to gains his senses back. Atem pushed lightly against him, eyes slipping closed as instincts guided him. His fingers twitched, seeking to hold something. Hesitantly, they went to encircle Yugi, who was humming into the kiss by now. The naga pressed himself into Atem's grasp, his own purple eyes closing in delight. Atem succumbed to the feelings swirling inside of him.

An eternity later, they separated, each pressing chaste and gentle kisses to the other. _This is nice._ Atem purred in his head, mentally mirroring the purr Yugi was emitting. A thought crept in to the haze that cuddled his mind. Yugi was purring?

"You're purring?" Atem blurted out, his voice whispery soft. Yugi's eyes blinked open, long lashes fluttering as the naga tried to focus on his voice.

"I am?" he asked, head tilting to one side. "I'm pretty sure that I did not. We can't purr."

"But you did!" Atem insisted. There was no way what he had heard could _not_ have been a purr. Yugi blinked, then laughed. Atem felt a pout form on his lips at the sudden amusement. "Quit laughing! It's not that funny…"

Yuugi's laughter turned into gently rumbles as the naga leaned his head on Atem's chest, nuzzling up against his collarbone. A blush bloomed on Atem's face, and he awkwardly tightened his hold of Yugi.

"So…what now?" Atem asked. "N-not that I'm expecting anything! I-it's just that I've not been in a real…r-relationship before, and-"

Yuugi leaned up and stopped his stuttering with a gentle kiss to his lips. The naga hummed against him, and bit-by-bit Atem managed to relax.

"Now," Yugi whispered, breaking the kiss with a gentle smile. "We take it slow." The naga's lower half coiled in a loose half-circle around them, capturing some of the heat that had gone missing with the slowly setting sun. "I don't want to make you do anything you're uncomfortable with."

The statement reassured Atem, even if his pride didn't want to admit it. He settled for not saying anything, and just held on to Yugi. He was still unsure as to what he could, should, would do now, but he was positive that Yugi would be there to help him through it.

"You know what, Yugi? I think I like the sky better from here."

~(*)~End~(*)~

AN: This was really fun to write, even though it will most likely stay as a one-shot. I may post other chapters depicting moments in Atem's new life, but that is unplanned so far. Sorry that it's so short, but I had only planned this as a drabble to go with a drawing. ^^ It grew just a little bit.

Review please?


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